Entertainment

La La Land expected to lead the pack of Oscar nominations

La La Land expected to lead the pack of Oscar nominations
La La Land expected to lead the pack of Oscar nominations La La Land expected to lead the pack of Oscar nominations

A whimsical Hollywood musical about a struggling actress and a jazz musician is widely expected to receive a raft of Oscar nominations.

La La Land pairs Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as young dreamers who sing and dance their way around Los Angeles.

It has already won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes, every award it was nominated for, and racked up a string of Bafta and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations.

The film’s success has extended to the box office, where it took more than £6 million in its first weekend in UK cinemas, nearly £5 million more than any other film.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone (Jordan Strauss/AP/PA)

It has also performed strongly at the US box office where some critics have linked its success with the current political unease and upheaval surrounding the election of President Donald Trump.

If La La Land leads the pack of Oscar nominations tomorrow it would not be the first time the Academy has rewarded a movie that provides escapism and optimism during troubled times.

At the 2009 Oscars, the first ceremony following the crash of Lehman Brothers and the global economic downturn, Danny Boyle’s uplifting film Slumdog Millionaire was named best picture.

After the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, the Oscar for best picture went to the musical Oliver! just two days later and following the September 11 terrorist attacks, A Beautiful Mind won the night, a film about real-life maths genius John Nash.

La La Land also offers the story of a real-life Hollywood dream come true.

Director Damien Chazelle fantasised about making the film for six years and only got it into production after the awards success of his film Whiplash, which earned star JK Simmons an Oscar.

He told the Press Association: “This was a movie we were told no one wanted to see for six years so I feel incredibly privileged and blessed to even be in the conversation at all, especially with the movies this year.

“It’s an incredible year for cinema.”

Damien, 32, added: “This was the dream project all along, I’ve been asked recently what’s your dream project and I think ‘Well this was it’.

Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle (Joel Ryan/AP)

“I have to think of a new one because this really seemed an unrealistic dream for a while and it’s a movie about dreams and dreamers, so all of that makes this feel all the more rewarding.”

La La Land is in UK cinemas now.